It was a night of opportunities; some missed, others converted.
Unfortunately for the Trail Smoke Eaters, the league-leading Brooks Bandits scored four unanswered goals over a 17-minute span to post a 5-2 win at Cominco Arena.
The Smokies struck first.
With Jason Stefanek crashing the net, Attila Lippai’s shot from the left-wing boards found the net at 12:20 of the opening frame, but the Bandits tied the game less than a minute later on an Isaac Johnson shot from the deep slot.
Liam Fitzpatrick gave the visitors the lead with just over two minutes left in the first period, scoring from almost the same spot, three seconds after the Smokies killed off a penalty.
The Bandits extended the lead to 4-1 on an early second period snipe from the slot by Parker Lalonde who scored his league-leading 13th goal of the season and AJ Lacroix banked a pass in off the skate of Smokies defenseman Lucas Lemieux at the ten minute mark.
The Smoke Eaters picked up the pace, doubling their shot volume in the final ten minutes of the second period, but Bandits goaltender Johnny Hicks made some big saves, including one off Ridge Dawson.
The Smokies captain beat the Brooks defense with excellent outside speed and crashed the crease with a high backhander. The officials reviewed the play on video, but couldn’t see the puck cross the red line.
The Bandits managed the third period with a pesky neutral zone trap and created opportunities which were turned back by Trail goalie Teagan Kendrick who turned in a solid 34-save performance.
The Smokies remained relentless and had a great chance on a 2-and-0 shorthanded breakaway, but Cade De St. Hubert’s tap in attempt narrowly missed the open corner of the net.
Trail narrowed the deficit to 4-2 on a fine individual effort by Noah Ziskie.
The 19-year-old defensemen intercepted a clearing attempt at the Brooks blue line, weaved into the slot and snapped in his second goal of the season with about eight-and-a-half minutes remaining.
The Smokies best chance to make it a one-goal game came shortly thereafter, but Evan Sundar couldn’t get to a centreing pass with a wide-open net in his sights.
Kendrick was pulled for a sixth-attacker with just over three minutes left, but the Bandits won the ensuing face-off and Captain Ethan Beyer fired a 190-foot shot into Trail’s empty net.
The Smokies were 0-for-4 on the power play while killing off all five Brooks advantages and fired 19 of their 27 shots on goal over the final 30 minutes.
Trail will take an 8-5-1-1 record into Friday’s home game against Spruce Grove, who they beat 7-2 during the late September road trip to Alberta.
Opening face-off is set for 7 p.m. and good seats are still available at Tickets.TrailSmokeEaters.com.
